Method for packing containers automatically

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for automatically packaging empty collapsible tubes ( 1 ), that are supplied by a conveyor belt, into a plurality of packaging containers that take up collapsible tubes ( 1 ). According to the invention, the supplied collapsible tubes ( 1 ) are collected in a row without gaps, supplied in this row to an intermediate storage ( 13 ) and then jointly transferred into a packaging container; thereafter the packaging container is conveyed further on. The empty collapsible tubes ( 1 ) are arranged in conveyor trays ( 3 ) of a feeder belt ( 2 ) and are collected continuously in a row or partial row by means of separately driven and adjustable suction vees ( 5 ).

The invention relates to a method for automatically packaging emptycontainers, such as collapsible tubes or the like, that are supplied bya conveyor belt, into a plurality of packaging containers that take upempty containers.

Methods for the manufacture of containers that are, in principle,circular or elliptical in cross-section, practically cylindricalcontainers with invariable cross-sections, such as preferrablycollapsible tubes, cans or tubes, are, for example, known from DE 26 43089 A1 and WO 9115349, in particular for collapsible tubes. Thecollapsible tubes thus manufactured can be packaged by a collapsibletube packaging machine to form larger product units which can then besupplied to a filling company. The packaging machines required to thisend are, for example, known from EP 1 114 784B1.

Both the manufacturing machines and the packaging machines permitmanufacture and packaging respectively of approx. 200 up to no more than250 units per minute. For the future, however, production and packagingrates are desirable that are within a range of ±500 units per minute. Atpresent, such machines for the manufacture of collapsible tubes areunder development and, in part, already in production. Automaticpackaging machines with such a high rate of units per minute have notyet been developed because, at such high speeds, the times available forloading individual rows of collapsible tubes are very short. What ismore, the problems arising in connection with the time available andwith the loading rates are further aggravated because the collapsibletubes are often top-heavy. Furthermore, the time available for changinga packaging container is also insufficient, for example when a last rowand a first row are loaded in two successive packaging containers, forexample boxes; as a result, the speed cannot be increased.

It is the object of the invention to create a method for automaticallypackaging empty containers, such as collapsible tubes or the like, thatare supplied by a conveyor belt, into a plurality of packagingcontainers that take up empty containers, said method facilitating highpackaging rates of 500 and more containers per minute without anycritical cycle times.

This problem is solved by the characteristic elements of claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are disclosed in thesubordinate claims.

Below, the invention will be illustrated in more detail with referencebeing made to drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of an apparatus for applying the method according tothe invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the apparatus according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of a collection apparatus and of a continuously runningfeeder belt;

FIG. 4 is a view of a single rotatable suction vee;

FIG. 5 is a view of two transfer units and one loading plate for therows of tubes having accumulated in a collection apparatus and loadedinto a packaging container;

FIG. 6 is a view of a partially loaded apparatus for ganging a row ofcollapsible tubes without any gap;

FIG. 7 is the same view as shown in FIG. 6, however, of a compacted rowof collapsible tubes;

FIG. 8 is a view of different positions of various packaging containers;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of an intermediate storage; and

FIG. 10 is a view of two different types of packaging collapsible tubes.

For the most part, the figures shown are schematic representations. Afew variants of further executive forms are indicated in the descriptionbelow.

Below, the invention will be illustrated in more detail by means of anexemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, containers that are approximately cylindrical inshape, such as cans or tubes or the like, here collapsible tubes 1, arecontinuously supplied from a manufacturing unit HE onto a feeder belt 2on individual vee-shaped conveyor trays 3 which are forming the feederbelt 2. The vee-shape of the conveyor trays 3 enables such containers tobe taken up without having to be changed, wherein the cross-sections ofthese containers are varying within a wide range. At its end, the feederbelt 2 is provided with a collection apparatus 4, here comprising eightseparately driven rotatable suction vees 5. The rotatable suction vees 5take up the collapsible tubes 1 from the feeder belt 2 one after theother and—in the executive example—deliver the collected collapsibletubes 1 in rows of eight or seven respectively in two cycles to fifteenholders 6 of a group transfer unit 7. The holders 6 are connected to asuction line and comprise parallel recesses that are uniformly spacedapart from each other; the collapsible tubes 1 that have been taken upfrom the feeder belt 2 and delivered by means of the suction vees 5 aresupplied into said recesses. The group transfer unit 7 transfers theformed rows of collapsible tubes 1 into a ganging apparatus 8 that, inthe executive example, comprises fifteen collapsible tube holding vees9.

The axial spacing of the fifteen collapsible tubes 1 thus depositedstill corresponds to the spacing of the conveyor trays 3, i.e. the saidtubes are arranged at the same pitch (see FIG. 6). In order to achieve atight and closed packing of the collapsible tube rows, the collapsibletubes 1 must be ‘compacted’ such that they are positioned adjacent toone another or are in contact with one another. Each row, in theexecutive example comprising fifteen compacted collapsible tubes 1 thatare in contact with one another, is then deposited on lowerable bottomstrips 12 of an intermediate storage 13 by a row transfer unit 10 withholding suction cavities 11 that are arranged according to a ‘compacted’row (see FIG. 7). The bottom strips 12 are then lowered in steps to takeup a next row of compacted collapsible tubes 1. The lowering in steps iscarried out until a desired number of rows has formed, for example fiverows; thereafter, a greater lowering movement is effected, whereby thefive rows of collapsible tubes are placed on the firm base 15 of theintermediate storage 13. The intermediate storage 13 may have the shapeof a case one moving lateral wall of which is provided as a slide 16which permits all collapsible tubes 1 collected in the intermediatestorage 13 to be transferred, in a sliding movement, into an empty oralready partially filled box 14 that is arranged behind the intermediatestorage 13. Depending on its size, the box 14 may already been filled inpart and/or require further batches of collected collapsible tubes 1 forbeing filled completely.

The initially empty box 14 is arranged in a vertical position behind theintermediate storage 13 and is lowered in steps by a holding fork 17according to its filling degree. By means of a swivel drive 18, theholding fork 17 is arranged at a linear drive 19 for verticaladjustment. The linear drive 19 permits the holding fork 17 to be placedat various levels that can each be activated preferrably by a mechanicalor automatic control system (not illustrated).

Once an empty box 14 is filled with the desired number of collapsibletubes 1, it is turned by 90 degrees from the position behind theintermediate storage 13 by means of the swivel drive 18 and placed on aconveyor belt that may, for example, be designed as a finger belt 20, sothat the holding fork 17 can comb through the finger belt 20 into aposition below the finger belt 20. On a conveyor belt that ispreferrably arranged laterally and is, for example, designed as a rollerconveyor 21, the full box 14′ is then conveyed to a filling machine (notillustrated) or a store (not illustrated).

Once the full box 14′ has released the finger belt 20, the holding fork17 is moved from its bottommost position to its topmost position by thelinear drive 19, while first combing through the first lower finger belt20 and then through a second upper finger belt 20′ arranged parallel tothe first finger belt and spaced apart therefrom in height and taking upa new empty box 14 that has been supplied beforehand, for example by aconveyor belt that may, for example, be designed as a second rollerconveyor 21′. After having taken over the empty box 14 from the upperfinger belt 20′, the holding fork 17 briefly remains inan—uppermost—position just a little above the upper finger belt 20′where, by means of the swivel drive 18, it is turned by 90 degrees, sothat the opening of the box 14 is directed towards the intermediatestorage 13, and moved behind the intermediate storage 13 and down to therequired working level that is stored if necessary, where it can take upany number of batches of further collapsible tubes 1 until the empty box14 is filled.

If necessary, further empty boxes 14 can be supplied via the rollerconveyor 21′ and to the upper finger belt 20′ by a preferrablycontrollable stop 22.

The above general illustration of the overall invention will be followedby a description of the individual steps below.

The collection apparatus 4 assigned to the feeder belt 2 for collapsibletubes 1 comprises suction vees 5 that are provided with a number ofeight suction vees 5 in the executive example (see FIG. 3). The suctionvees 5 are driven separately and are mounted between the feeder belt 2and the group transfer unit 7 such that they can be rotated aboutparallel axes and, in a first step, take up eight and, in a second step,seven collapsible tubes 1 from the conveyor trays 3 of the feeder belt2, so that a total of fifteen collapsible tubes 1 are taken up by thegroup transfer unit 7. It is also possible to provide more or less thaneight suction vees 5 in order to take up more or less collapsible tubes1 from the feeder belt 2.

At the transfer sites A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H at the collection apparatus4, collapsible tubes 1 approaching on the feeder belt 2 are taken up bythe suction vees 5 that are assigned to each transfer site A through H,as shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, the transfer sites A through D arealready occupied. However, the following conveyor trays 3 areunoccupied, and there are gaps L. If having been present there formerly,the collapsible tubes were discarded and already separated, for exampleby an upstream control system, thus causing gaps L.

If a gap L is now approaching the unoccupied transfer site E, therespectively last assigned suction vee 5 that is not yet occupied by acollapsible tube 1 is not activated, i.e. the empty conveyor tray 3passes through the collection apparatus 4. The suction vee 5′ at thetransfer site E is activated only when a collapsible tube 1 approachesin a conveyor tray 3. If, for example, an optical sensor (notillustrated) detects that a collapsible tube 1 approaches the transfersite E and, thus, the assigned suction vee 5′, the suction vee 5′ isturned in direction of the arrow (see FIG. 4) and the collapsible tube 1is taken over within the range of P1, is rotated to be transferred and,at position P2, is delivered to the group transfer unit 7 and into theholders 6 a₁ to h₁, wherein the linear velocity V1 of the conveyor trays3 and, thus, of the collapsible tubes 1 on the feeder belt 2 and thetangential velocity V₂ of the rotatable suction vees 5 are approximatelyequal or synchronous, at least at the time of collapsible tube takeoverat P1.

Once all of the transfer sites A through H are loaded with collapsibletubes 1 and the latter are delivered to the holders 6 at the eightpositions a₁, through h₁, this is followed by a further collapsible tube1 loading cycle at positions A through G and by a successivecorresponding takeover of now only seven collapsible tubes that are nowdelivered to the holders 6 i₁ to o₁ of the group transfer unit 7 (seeFIG. 3) at position P3 (see FIG. 4). The suction vee 5 assigned to thetransfer site H is operated only at every first cycle, whereby analternating sequence of eight collapsible tubes in the first cycle andseven collapsible tubes in the second cycle and, thus, loading of thegroup transfer unit 7 with fifteen collapsible tubes 1 is enabled.Before taking up the seven collapsible tubes 1 in the second cycle, thegroup transfer unit 7 is lifted a little, in order to enable the takeupof the still missing seven collapsible tubes at position P3.

FIG. 5 illustrates the takeup position P4, for example for eightcollapsible tubes 1 of a first cycle, as well as a slightly turnedneighboring position 4′ that is briefly approached by the group transferunit 7 after having taken up the eight collapsible tubes 1. Thereafter,the group transfer unit 7 returns to position P4 to take up the sevencollapsible tubes 1 in the second cycle, so that the group transfer unit7 is loaded with a total of fifteen collapsible tubes 1. Then it turnsto position P5 where all of the fifteen collapsible tubes 1 are placedin a ganging apparatus 8 with holding vees 9.

The holding vees 9 (see FIGS. 6, 7) of the ganging apparatus 8 containsuction cavities, i.e. negative pressure is applied to the collapsibletubes 1 present thereon, whereby the collapsible tubes 1 are held on theholding vees 9.

The ganging apparatus 8 comprises fifteen holding vees 9 that are spacedapart from each other. The holding vees 9 including collapsible tubes 1are slidable, e.g. arranged on two bars 23 where they can be pushedtogether such that they are all in contact with one another, i.e. allcollapsible tubes 1 of a row are in lateral contact with one another(see. FIG. 7). The formed row of fifteen collapsible tubes 1 that aretouching each other is taken up by means of the row transfer unit 10with suction cavities 11 at position P5 (see FIG. 5) and, after a swivelmovement (see arrow in FIG. 5), transferred on lowerable bottom strips12 a, 12 b, 12 c of the intermediate storage 13 at position P6 andplaced thereon.

If it is desired to have the collapsible tubes 1 packed in the boxes 14as closely as possible, the row transfer unit 10 makes a lateraldeflecting movement (represented schematically in FIG. 7 by the arrowbetween positions P7 and P8), so that alternating packing of thecollapsible tubes 1 (see FIG. 10 b) can be achieved, i.e. a type ofpacking where the collapsible tubes 1 of each successive row are placedin a staggered arrangement. It is, however, also possible to provide atype of packing (see FIG. 10 a) where the rows are arranged exactly oneon top of the other.

After a row of collapsible tubes 1 has been placed on the lowerablebottom strips 12 a, 12 b, 12 c of the intermediate storage 13, thebottom strips 12 a, 12 b, 12 c are lowered by an amount that correspondsto the particular packing pattern desired (see, for example, Figs. a andb). If the packing is close, i.e. with a higher filling degree (see FIG.10 b), the lowering movement is equal to the respective collapsible tubediameter multiplied with a factor of 0.5×√?3; if the packing is looseaccording to FIG. 10 a, the lowering movement is equal to thecollapsible tube diameter. Thereafter, further rows are placed andfurther lowering movements are made, until the respectively desirednumber of rows or the desired filling degree of a box 14 is achieved.

Once the bottommost layer of stored collapsible tubes 1 reaches the baseplate 15 of the intermediate storage 13, wherein the base plate 15 isarranged in a non-removable manner and is provided with cutouts forpassage of the bottom strips 12 a, 12 b, 12 c, the slide 16 transfersall collapsible tubes 1 collected in the intermediate storage 13 into anempty or partially filled box 14, wherein adjustable lateral guides 24that can be adjusted to the particular collapsible tube diameter and thetype of packing by any adjusting devices (not illustrated) are provided.The intermediate storage 13 also contains an upper front limiting plate25 that is arranged at a distance and can, if necessary, also belowered, in order to permit passage of one, if necessary even more rowsof collapsible tubes. Furthermore, a rear limiting plate 25′ is providedthe distance of which is adjusted to the collapsible tube length andwhich is also used to stabilize the collapsible tubes 1 alreadytransferred into the intermediate storage 13 while they are being storedin the intermediate storage 13.

According to a preferred executive form, two sets of bottom strips 12 a,12 b, 12 c and 12 a′, 12 b′, 12 c′ are arranged in the intermediatestorage 13 on three cooperating chain drives 26 a, 26 b, 26 c. All arejointly driven by a single motor via a sprocket wheel shaft 27. Afterthe bottommost of all rows of collapsible tubes 1 stored on the bottomstrips 12 a, 12 b, 12 c in the intermediate storage 13 has reached thebase plate 15 and the slide 16 transfers all collapsible tubes 1 into abox 14 or loads said box 14 with all collapsible tubes 1, further rowsof collapsible tubes 1 are grouped to form a further collapsible tubepackage in the intermediate storage 13 by means of the chain drives 26a, 26 b, 26 c and the additional bottom strips 12 a′, 12 b′, 12 c′.Since the two sets of bottom strips 12 a, 12 b, 12 c and 12 a′, 12 b′,12 c′ are arranged on the chain drives 26 a, 26 b, 26 c in a staggeredmanner and, with equal chain lengths, are driven by a single jointsprocket wheel shaft 27, the chain drives 26 a, 26 b, 26 c each comprisedifferent sequences that compensate their respectively differentarrangement.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 8, the holding fork 17 is connected to avertically adjustable linear drive 19 via a swivel drive 18, thusproviding the possibility of moving to the levels H1 through H7. Atlevel H1, the holding fork 17 takes over an empty box 14 from the upperfinger belt 20′. Subsequently, it is turned by 90 degrees by means ofthe swivel drive 18 and transferred to a variable working level that isdefined according to the filling degree of the box 14 and to theparticular working level H3 required. Once filling of the box 14 withcollapsible tubes 1 is completed as desired, it is moved to level H5. Toavoid collisions, level H6 is passed, and then the full box is placed onthe lower finger belt 20 by means of the holding fork 17 and the swiveldrive 18 at level H7 and is then transferred to a filling plant (notillustrated) or a store by means of the lower roller conveyor 21.

The apparatus is characterized in that there is always enough time forcompleting the respectively next working step, so that there arepractically no problems arising in connection with the time available.

1. Method for automatically packaging empty collapsible tubes (1), thatare supplied by a conveyor belt, into a plurality of packagingcontainers that take up collapsible tubes (1) wherein the suppliedcollapsible tubes (1) are collected in a row without gaps, supplied inthis row to an intermediate storage (13) and then jointly transferredinto a packaging container; thereafter the packaging container isconveyed further on.
 2. Method according to claim 1, wherein severalrows of empty collapsible tubes (1) that have been supplied one afterthe other are collected in the intermediate storage (13) until asufficient number of empty collapsible tubes (1) is achieved for fillingor partially filling a packaging container.
 3. Method according to claim1, wherein the empty collapsible tubes (1) are arranged in conveyortrays (3) of a feeder belt (2) and are collected continuously in a rowor partial row by means of separately driven and adjustable suction vees(5).
 4. Method according to claim 1, wherein each row containing thedesired number of collapsible tubes (1) is compacted so that said tubescome into contact with each other and is transferred into theintermediate storage (13) only after completed compaction.
 5. Methodaccording to claim 1, wherein each collapsible tube (1) in theintermediate storage (13) is in touching contact with a neighboringcollapsible tube (1) on top of it at one point only.
 6. Method accordingto claim 1, wherein each collapsible tube (1) in the intermediatestorage (13) is in touching contact with two collapsible tubes (1) ontop of it.
 7. Method according to claim 1, wherein a packaging containercan be arranged behind each intermediate storage (13) in a swivellingand vertically adjustable manner.
 8. Method according to claim 7,wherein each packaging container can be arranged on a holding fork (17).9. Method according to claim 1, wherein conveyor belts (20, 20′, 21, 2′)for the supply of empty and removal of full packaging containers arearranged at two different levels.
 10. Method according to claim 1,wherein a moving slide transfers all of the collapsible tubes (1) storedin the intermediate storage (13) into a packaging container.
 11. Methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the intermediate storage (13) is providedwith a fixed base plate (15) with adjustable lateral guides (24),adjustable limiting plates (25, 25′) as well as at least two sets ofmovable bottom strips (12 a, 12 b, 12 c and 12 a′, 12 b′, 12 c′). 12.Method according to claim 11, the movable bottom strips (12 a, 12 b, 12c and 12 a′, 12 b′, 12 c′) are arranged in the intermediate storage (13)such that they can be passed through the base plate (15) and are movablesynchronously with each other.